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2021 Supreme(P&H) 1226
IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
Harnaresh Singh Gill, J.
Saroj Rani & Ors. - Appellants
Versus
State Of Haryana - Respondent
CRM M No. 27995 of 2021
Decided On : 20-07-2021
Prateek Gupta, Advocate, Ashok Singh Chaudhary, Advocate, N.S. Shekhawat, Advocate, T.S. Grewal, Advocate, Ajit Sihag, Advocate, Rose Gupta, Advocate, R.D. Bansal, Advocate, Anurag Jain, Advocate, Parveenarya, Advocate, Sunil Saharan, Advocate, Narender, Advocate, Himanshu Raj, Advocate
Granting anticipatory bail would hamper the effective and fair investigation, and custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the fraud played upon the innocent buyers.
Headnote:
anticipatory bail - criminal law - Sections 406, 420, 468, 471, 477-A and 34 IPC - The court discussed the allegations against the petitioners, the audit report prepared by HRERA, and the serious nature of the offences. The court found that granting anticipatory bail would hamper the effective and fair investigation, and the petitioners were required for custodial interrogation.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioners sought anticipatory bail in a case involving allegations of cheating and breach of trust related to a real estate project. The buyers invested money with the hope of getting shelter but did not receive possession of the flats and villas within the stipulated period. The petitioners were accused of diverting funds, misappropriation, and forgery in the account books.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that granting anticipatory bail to the petitioners would hamper the investigation and that custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the fraud played upon the innocent buyers.
Issues: The issues involved allegations of cheating, breach of trust, misappropriation of funds, and forgery in the account books by the petitioners in a real estate project.
Ratio Decidendi: The court's decision was based on the serious nature of the allegations, the need for custodial interrogation, and the potential hindrance to the investigation if anticipatory bail was granted.
Final Decision: The petition for anticipatory bail was dismissed by the court.
JUDGMENT
Harnaresh Singh Gill, J. - Case was taken up for hearing through video conferencing.
2. Through this petition, the petitioners seek anticipatory bail in case bearing FIR No.133 dated 22.05.2019, registered at Police Station Urban Estate, Hisar, under Sections 406, 420, 468, 471, 477-A and 34 IPC.
3. The facts of the case, as noticed in the impugned order dated 13.07.2021, are as under:
"2. Brief facts of the case are that on 22.05.2019, Daya Nand General Secretary, Aarcity Regency Park Apartment Buyers Welfare Association and others presented an application to the effect that in the year 2008, M/s Hisar Real Estate Private Ltd. came up with a project Hisar Heights. In the year 2011, the promoters of the company collaborated with M/s Aarcity Builders Private Ltd. and they falsely projected to the public to deliver possession of 639 flats and 35 villas within a period of 39 months from the date of booking of the apartment. The members of the association invested their hard earned money with a hope to get shelter in Hisar town and booked their apartments with the company. It is alleged that the accused company have forged their account books by showing false selling price of the flats and false expenditures. It was represented by the Directors of the company that the money collected from the proposed buyers shall be spent on the construction of the project and they will also not earn more than 15% profit and no third party rights would be created without approval of licencing authority. However, the accused companies had no intention to complete the construction and handover the possession of the flats to the buyers and in this manner, they committed cheating and breach of trust with the buyers besides forging its account books. They also started diverting the funds of the project as well as pocketed the funds for their personal use. Since the very first day, the construction of the project ran at a very slow pace because both the companies had a motive to extract money from the buyers without taking any steps to develop the project. M/s ABPL had siphoned major amounts from the project by forging its account books in conspiracy with the promoters/Directors of M/s.HREPL. The buyers also approached Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Panchkula for delivery of possession or alternatively for refund of their amounts. During the pendency of the proceedings before HRERA, a forensic audit of the accounts of M/s ABPL was ordered. In the audit report, it was found that the company had embezzled crores of rupees belonging to the buyers and had forged the account books. As per HRERA order dated 10.04.2019, it has been stated that this is not only a case of failure in fulfilling their contractual and legal obligations towards the allottees but also amounts to criminal offence of cheating and breach of trust. With these allegations, a prayer for registration of the FIR was made. On this application, FIR was registered under Sections 406, 420, 468, 471, 477-A/34 IPC. Apprehending their arrest, the applicants/accused have filed the present application seeking anticipatory bail."
4. Learned counsel for the petitioners contends that petitioners No.1 and 3, namely, Saroj Rani and Kushal Mittal, are not the Directors of M/s Aarcity Builders Private Limited (for short, 'ABPL'), as would decipher from the Master Data (Annexure P-18) and, therefore, no offence is made out against them, at the first instance, and the above-noted FIR is a pressure tactic adopted by a few of the allottees to get the outstanding dues waived off.
5. It is further contended that M/s Hisar Real Estate Pvt. Ltd. (HREPL) was a collaborator with Company-ABPL for the purpose of procuring land and clearances and, therefore, necessary permissions were granted in favour of HREPL, except for the RERA Registration in favour of the Company-ABPL. The present petitioners are not the Directors or the shareholders of HREPL and the same is not a sister concern of ABPL in which th
